Audio By Vocalize

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has declared that the fight to restore democracy, media freedom and the rule of law following the abduction of Standard Group Senior Editor will form the centrepiece of the Linda Mwananchi government vowing to defeat President William Ruto in the 2027 General Election.

Sifuna accused President Ruto’s administration of undermining constitutional freedoms and creating an atmosphere of fear, saying the country must be returned to what he described as “the rail of the six important values” enshrined in the Constitution.

Speaking in Bumula Constituency, Kakamega County during the burial of Mary Goreti, the sister of Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, Sifuna strongly condemned the abduction and arrest of a Standard Group Associate Editor, Alex Kiprotich, arguing that journalists must be protected if Kenya is to remain a democratic country.

“It is impossible that you are driving on the road and you are taken away the way the way the Standard Group Journaliat and Editor Alex Kiprotich was taken. Kenyans want to live in a free country. We do not want to live in fear,” said Sifuna.

He questioned the circumstances surrounding the incident and accused the Government of failing to protect media freedom, adding that the Linda Mwananchi movement would seek to restore institutions and constitutional safeguards if elected to power, arguing that democracy could not survive where citizens, journalists and political opponents lived in fear.

“You cannot just arrest a senior journalist in the middle of the road with police carrying firearms, then you dump him some 500kilometres near the dam, a country cannot have democracy if media is not being respected and allowed to do it’s work as per the constitution,” said Sifuna.

He said the movement’s agenda was not merely about removing the current administration from power but it’s main plan is rebuilding systems of governance around constitutionalism, democracy, individual freedoms and the rule of law.

“With less than 11 months remaining, we want to tell Kenyans that our entire plan is to return this country to the rails of the six important values contained in our Constitution, including democracy, freedom of citizens and the rule of law,” said Sifuna.

Sifuna also accused the Government of using threats against political opponents, saying leaders should not threaten citizens with arrest, expulsion or other forms of intimidation.

He challenged religious leaders to remind politicians that the power to determine the length of a person’s life belongs to God.

Sifuna further linked the rule of law to economic growth, warning that investors would be reluctant to establish businesses in Kenya if government could arbitrarily order them to leave.

He said Kenya could not rely on government alone to create employment for millions of young people, arguing that the country needed both local and foreign investors.

“No investor can bring his project to a country where he can wake up one day and the President tells him, ‘Pack and go.’ It is impossible,” Sifuna said.

He argued that investor confidence was also affected by the possibility of commercial disputes being referred to foreign jurisdictions because investors lacked confidence in Kenya’s legal system.

Sifuna also criticised the government over the ongoing nurses and midwives strike, saying the rule of law required the State to honour agreements signed with workers.